


Beating For Two

by AstroLatte



Series: Homecoming [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Love Triangle, Canon Compliant, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Friends to Lovers, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Shiro (Voltron), Hot Springs & Onsen, Humor Fluff Angst, Keith is trying to play it cool, Keith's wolf loves him so much, Kinda, M/M, Minor Allura/Lance (Voltron), Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Poor description of alien spa treatments, Post Season 6, Roadtrip to Earth, Romelle plays matchmaker, Space Spas, Space Time, Swimsuits!, klangst, lance is in denial, season 7 fix it fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 17:33:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15224243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstroLatte/pseuds/AstroLatte
Summary: “Your heart is very loud, beating for two people like that.”“Is that an Alteanian saying?”“Oh, it could be different for humans,” Romelle sits up straight and places a hand over her heart. "What do your people call it when you have romantic feelings for two people at once?"While stopping at a Spa Planet on their way to Earth, Lance falls into a bisexual crisis and his only emotional guide is an Altean woman who pronounces his name wrong.





	Beating For Two

**Author's Note:**

> *Comes to this fandom two years late with Starbucks and a 17,000 word one-shot*
> 
> Hey gang!
> 
> I've been up late all week writing this monster and want to die!
> 
> This fic is a spiritual sequel to "Three Words" but you don't need to read that fic to enjoy this. They'll all be in a collection together and will probably be a trilogy if I ever get around to writing the third part. 
> 
> P.S. - This fic was temporarily titled "Yee To My Haw" for a week but I couldn't commit

"Well look at that, we're near the planet Balneum!" Coran's voice rings through the intercom. "That could be a good place to stop and refuel on our way to the abyss."

"Oh my gosh, Balneum!" Matt's voice echoes through the speakers, and Lance needs to turn down the volume on his end to keep from blowing his eardrums. For this leg of the trip, Matt's bunking with Keith and Shiro in the Black Lion to make some minor repairs and keeps forgetting that Black's intercom runs loud. "Yes! We need to go there!"

"What's Balneum?" Pidge asks, video popping up on the screen for the team.

"Really, Coran? Balneum?" Allura hums through the intercom, her video beams to the other lions even though Coran is right next to her. Pidge's question is completely ignored. "I don't know. We're making good timing, but we still have a long ways to go before we're anywhere near the Altean colony."

"What's Balneum?" Hunk repeats, his video now joining Pidge.

"Yeah, what is it?" Lance urges, turning his video on to see the rest of the team.

"But Princess, it's Balneum!" Coran whines, ignoring Lance. "It would be a such a treat for everyone and I haven't been there in centuries!"

"WHAT IS BALNEUM!?" Lance, Pidge and Hunk yell and Shiro breaks through the static, muting their lions. Their screens are filled with his exasperated face as he leans over Keith, who is piloting Black.

"Okay that's it, nobody is allowed to say Balneum until someone explains what Balneum is," he demands and unmutes their channel before turning to Matt who looks bashful. "Well?"

"Oh um...it's...uh," he scratches his face nervously. "Kinda...a spa planet."

"SPA PLANET?!" Lance, Pidge, and Hunk exclaim and Keith re-mutes them. Lance sticks out his tongue and Keith responds by flipping him the bird. He sees Krolia elbow Keith through the video chat, muttering, "I know what that means."

"Balneum is a small planet packed with geothermally heated springs. It's one of this quadrants greatest sights," Coran continues. "It's where many a weary traveler goes to rest their tired bones during long journeys. The Balneumians are a very hospitable people and these springs are filled with minerals that make them incredibly relaxing."

"More like disgusting," Krolia says, wrinkling her nose. "Everyone shares a bath like a weird intergalactic stew."

"Is it co-ed?" Lance asks before remembering he's still muted.

"Krolia isn't incorrect," Allura says. "If Balneum is anything like it was 10,000 years ago, then it's a passerby planet for some of the most questionable scoundrels in the universe. Mercenaries and outlaws and the like."

"There are those types, but it’s been gentrified in recent deca-phoebs. Now it's mostly just for all space travelers looking for a good time. It’s still popular for rebels and vagabonds needing a rest stop with dinner and entertainment," Krolia explains and Lance wonders if antisocial behaviors are as hereditary as hairstyles.

"Oh, so it's like an onsen?" Shiro asks and Matt nods.

"Exactly! Their food is supposed to be amazing too. Like the comfort food on Earth. And there's live music!"

Lance did like relaxation and live music.

"We have been stuck in these lions for a while," Pidge offers, managing to hack their volume control and override Keith's mute. "A hot bath does sound nice."

"And that comfort food sounds amazing!" Hunk sighs dreamily. "I wonder if they have Kobe beef and snow crab tasting. But like, whatever the alien version of that is."

"It is a small planet, we can probably get them to support the Voltron Coalition while we're there." Allura muses and Coran nods his head eagerly.

"We're still pushing that?" Lance raises an eyebrow. "I thought we dropped it after the castle got destroyed and we left Lotor in the quintessence field."

"With the castle gone, we'll need the support of the Voltron Coalition more than ever," Shiro says, and Keith scrunches his nose in distaste.

"Does that mean those stupid coalition shows at space malls are still a thing? Those were the worst."

"Hey! They weren't that bad!" Coran fights. “They were very successful in boosting civic engagement!”

"You're just jealous that Allura was able to replace your surly ass and did a way better job at it." Lance rests his head on his hand as he flings the jab. It's so effortless and the look of irritation on Keith's face is so rewarding.

"She was a good Keith," Hunk agrees.

"And they rose team morale and got the word out," Coran added with a nod. "Like all good coalition shows should!"

"Not the ones I saw."

"Awww, Keith watched our shows during his murder missions," Pidge cooed, batting their eyelashes. "He did miss us."

Keith turns away and Lance could see a blush creeping under his cheeks.

"Alright, everyone focus." Shiro orders and leans over the back of Keith's chair to address Allura. "I don't see any harm in resting and refueling. It sounds like everyone is getting a little punchy, but the call is yours, Princess."

Allura closes her eyes as the chant of "Spa Planet! Spa Planet! Spa Planet!" from Matt, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk rings through the communicators, slowly growing in volume.

"Ugh! Fine, we're stopping at Balneum," she relents and is greeted with loud cheers that turn into static on the intercom. "Don't make me regret this or we will be leaving and everyone will be sleeping in their lions!"

"Yes, Mom," they reply and Shiro instructs them to cut communication until they land. The video chat on Lance's monitor goes dark as he sets the landing coordinates for Balneum.

"Looks like we're taking a bit of a rest, Kaltenecker," he says to the cow that's been bunking with him in the back of Red. "You'll be able to stretch those gams of yours!"

Kaltenecker moos in appreciation.

Unlike the rest of the paladins, Lance and Hunk didn't have any additional passengers and were stationed with carrying supplies and, of course, Kaltenecker. This was of great amusement to Keith who wasted no time informing Lance that the position sounded an awful lot like a cargo pilot. Lance, in turn, wasted no time threatening to throw all of his belongings into space.

As much as it pained Lance to admit it, and it truly did bring him pain, there is comfortability in having Kieth back on Team Voltron. Even though Shiro was out of commission to pilot Black until Hunk and Coran finished building him an Altean prosthetic arm, Lance couldn't remember the last time they were a cohesive unit before Keith left to join the Blade of Marmora. Sure, the castle was destroyed, they were on their way to an Altean colony where people have been enslaved for thousands of years, the Galra were still hunting them and his love life with still a disaster with Allura, but overall he is enjoying himself. It reminded him of the road trips his family would take during their summer breaks.

"Once we figure out the Altean colony situation, we'll be going back to Earth huh?" he turns to the cow who was staring at him blankly. "You excited to go home? Got any nice bulls waiting for you out on the homestead?"

Another moo and Lance nods, "You and me both, sis. Guess it's hard for everyone to find someone."

He feels a vibrate in his pocket and reaches to pull out his orange space cellphone. Setting Red to land on autopilot, Lance unlocks his phone quickly and sees that he has new messages. He smiles, though they're all in their lions, everyone in the team still sends each other group chats and direct messages. Regularly it's small things that aren't enough to warrant a team video chat, like someone searching for an extra pillow or when Hunk lost his screwdriver and it ended up being in Blue. Other times, it's inside jokes or fun selfies from them in their lions.  Mostly it's everyone complaining about how boring space is when you're trying to avoid Garla and stuck in flying robot cats packed to the brim with stuff.

Lance checks the group chat and sees Coran has uploaded a picture of Romelle looking slightly frustrated with the caption, "Romelle is very excited about visiting Balneum!" 

 **Hunk** : She is? That doesn't look excited to me.

 **Coran** : The amount of excitement for Balneum cannot be captured in a single snapshot.

 **Coran** : It is a feeling that you cannot show.

 **Matt** : agreed  ^^^

 **Pidge** : Lots of hype for Balneum in the fam chat rn

Matt then sent a selfie of him in Black, grinning widely. In the background, Shiro and Krolia both look unimpressed. Keith isn't facing the camera because even if he is two years older, he's still a big baby when it comes to selfies.

 **Matt** : The hype is real in the Black Lion!!!

Lance adds his own message, filled with emojis, and sends to the rest of the chat. He swipes out and sees that he has two direct messages, one of which is from Allura. He melts, leaning back in his seat as he reads the text while smiling. He's probably read their chat from start to finish about twenty times.

 **Allura** : Thank you for cheering on my incredible acting skills before! I'm glad other people can recognize my talents.

Lance grin grows as he types his response and sends.

 **Lance** : A true talent, really. You didn't even need a mullet.

 **Allura** : Once we're done saving the universe, I will take my talents on the road with the mice.

She sends him a picture of said mice, stacked in a kind of pyramid he'd only seen at his sister's cheerleading competitions.  

 **Allura** : We'll be the Flying Alteans!

 **Lance** : Woah, nice!

 **Lance** : Tell them I say hi!

Lance eyes Red's navigation to ensure that they're still on course to land without smashing into anyone. He’s been flying Red for months, but still doubts their occasionally fraught connection. Especially after a mission where Red went rogue and flew headfirst into the side of a Galra warship. Granted, it worked and got the team access, but Lance walked around with a black eye and split lip for a week. Piloting Red was like building on shifting sand, only the sand could read your thoughts and typically took your worst idea and went with it.

His phone buzzes and he sees he has another direct message. He opens to see it's from Keith, who is new to having a space cellphone but manages to keep his own in the group chat and send Lance plenty of texts during their trip. This is confusing and a little worrying to Lance, as Keith is also flying Black and supposedly their lead navigator, so how he finds time to send the amount of text he does is baffling.

Currently, they're in a middle of a very serious standoff concerning Keith's space wolf and how he refuses to tell Lance (or anyone really) her name and it’s driving Lance absolutely bananas. He's been guessing for days and still hasn't gotten it.

 **Keith** : Biscuit? Really?

 **Lance** : Biscuit is a good dog name! Maybe you like biscuits.

 **Keith** : Why would I like biscuits?

 **Lance** : Ummm cause you're from Texas and biscuits and gravy is a thing there!

 **Lance** : Maybe when you were in that mystery shack in the desert and you felt something close to an emotion, you would think about biscuits and gravy and go, "Gosh, that dere food does put the yee to my haw."

 **Lance** : And so you name your first pet Biscuit

There a tick of nothing before Lance sees the three dots that indicate Keith typing his reply.

 **Keith** : ...she’s not named Biscuit.

 **Lance** : Don't act like that wasn't a valid attempt!

Keith doesn't respond right away and Lance looks up to see that's he's positioning Black to make a landing. Over their coms, he hears Shiro requesting landing access and is answered by the Balneumians. Once they're clear, they follow Keith's lead and prepare for landing. He feels another vibrate and looks down. 

 **Keith** : wtf is "yee to my haw?"

Lance snorts as he shoves his phone into his suit, shaking his head.

Texas Keith will never not be hilarious to him.

* * *

Shiro and Allura are the first out of their lions to meet the Balneumians. Lance always enjoyed meeting the new aliens and trying to find the common thread between all the species of the universe. The Balneumians are humanoid with a broad and sturdily built and long fuzzy ears like rabbits. Their chief Makkah was about the same height as Shiro and goes to shake the man's only hand graciously, his palm nearly engulfing Shiro’s. Makkah’s ears are tied back in a bun, his smile is large and it's clear to Lance that he already knows who they are.

"Friends, welcome to Balneum!" Makkah greets and his staff behind him bow. "We have seen the feats of Voltron through newscasts and the shows, but we'd never think in our wildest dreams to meet you with our own eyes."

"A fan of our coalition shows, are you?" Coran says loudly, giving Keith a withering look. "How fantastic that you enjoyed them, Chief Makkah!"

"Oh yes, my son Tak is a big fan of Voltron," Makkah looks over his shoulder and calls something in their native tongue. Moments later a young boy appears from behind his leg, his small ears poking through his mess of brown hair, too short to tie back. "Tak, look who has come to visit! It is the warriors of Voltron!"

Shiro leans down so he's eye to eye with them, and extends his hand for a handshake, "It's an honor to meet you, Tak. I'm Shiro."

The boy hesitates for a moment, looking up at his father before disentangling himself to shake Shiro's hand. "Hello. Um...are the other paladins with you?"

"Of course they are," Shiro smiles, and turns around to point at the rest of them. "You have Princess Allura, she helps me lead the team and is the paladin of the Blue Lion, Pidge who is our smartest scientist and pilot of the Green Lion, Hunk-"

Immediately Tak's eyes go wide at the mention of Hunk and quickly the boy is sprinting through everyone's legs. He startles Keith's wolf and Romelle as he makes a beeline right for Hunk, who is helping Krolia pull Kaltenecker out of Red.

"Big guy, your 6 o'clock!" Lance calls and it's enough to grab Hunk's attention in time to spot the small Balneumian who jumps into his arms, full of excitement. Kaltenecker moos in confusion as Krolia attempts in vain to calm her by ordering loudly, "It is just a small child, relax Cow!"

"ARE YOU FOR REALS THE YELLOW PALADIN!?" Tak is all enthusiasm and energy. Lance can tell that Hunk is thrown by the affection, but he's also an excitable guy.

"Yes, I am!"

"YOU'RE THE LEG RIGHT?"

"Yes, I am also the leg," Hunk says with a shrug. "Not as cool as an arm or the head but-"

"THE LEG IS MY FAVORITE PART OF VOLTRON!"  

Hunk's eyes well with tears, his emotions nearly pouring from him like a fountain as he laughs and takes Tak and put him on his shoulders, listening as the small boy fires questions and trying to answer as many as he can.

"Thank you for your generosity, Chief Makkah," Allura bows as the others disembark from their lions. "We hope to not be too much of a burden upon your people during our stay."

"Please! It's our pleasure to host the champions of Voltron." Makkah laughs, "We are a humble and small planet, and although our resources haven't been colonized by the Garla yet, it has been my family's concern for centuries that soon we will be overtaken, just like many of our neighbors."

Makkah calls for his staff to help lead them to the springs, helping them carrying their belongings to the lodging. Lance make eyes contact with a female Balneumian in a silk wrap, her ears pulled back into a long braid. He winks at her flirtatiously and she giggles. He's about to say something when he's shoved forward by someone's shoulder. He turns around to see it's Keith, who is walking with his cosmic wolf circling his legs.

"Oh...whoops," Keith deadpans, walking ahead of him on the dirt road. Lance frowns and turns to see that the Balneumian has gone inside one of the huts.

Leave it to Keith to be the worst wingman.

"The city seems quiet," Shiro says turning to Makkah. "I would think you would have a lot more traffic considering your planet's reputation for hospitality."

"Yes, unfortunately with the Garla out patrolling, very few space travelers want to stop these days. Patrolmen often hijack ships or separate families if they aren't part of the Empire," Makah sighed, looking upwards.

"That's awful," Matt says, glancing at Pidge. "There are so many foot soldiers in the empire, it's hard to determine if these orders are coming from the top are if their power is that corroding."

"The Baku rots from the head," Makkah shrugs. "We'll still get our regular, usually wealthy, traders or honeymooners and sometimes those seeking to escape the dismal circumstances of their planet's occupation. But those bookings are usually later on in the solar cycle."

"So, I guess this is your offseason..." Pidge notes, turning around to take in the sights.

Shiro turns to Makkah, resting a hand on his shoulder, "Not to make this trip about business, but I believe the Voltron Coalition can help."

Allura agrees, "Yes, we're a bit worse for wear right now, however, to establish peace in the universe even our smallest neighbors can have a large impact."

"Yes, let's discuss," Makkah agrees and turns to rest of the group. "Feel free to enjoy all of the amenities. Our hot springs are the best in the galaxy. Tonight, we'll be having the feast of the fallen stars and it shall be filled with music, festivities and warm food. Please enjoy, Paladins of Voltron!"

As Allura, Shiro and Coran follow Makkah, Lance makes his way to the row of huts at the end of the dirt path. A Balneumian staffer leads him to the one at the end and informs him that it's his quarters and hands him a transparent keycard and explains how it works. Lance thanks him and unlocks it easily, closing the door behind him. Dropping his pack on the floor, he toes off his boots and falls face first into the comfy bed.

He exhales for what feels like the first time in weeks. Or was it movements? Lance isn't sure anymore as time has begun to mesh together. At least when they were traveling with the castle, there was some semblance to how long they were traveling based on the strict routines Coran set up for them. Now, flying throughout the grand expanse of space, time felt like it stood still until his internal clock told him it was time to sleep or Red's gauge was low on fuel.

Lance sits up, facing the mirror that sits across from the bed. He tries to picture himself at the Garrison and compares to it how he looks now. Walking to the mirror, he peels off the top of his armor and tries not to gag at the smell of sweat and body odor. Kicking it aside, he stands up straight to examine himself. Sure, he's still skinny as hell, but he can spot clear definition of muscle along his arms and stomach. His mind wanders to what Keith said about time moving differently when he was in the abyss, which asides from time jumping also gives peoples growth spurts and extra muscle mass. The irritation washes over Lance instantly.

"He probably has to shave now too," he mumbles, inspecting his own face in the mirror. Besides a few whiskers, he's got nothing. It's been that way since he was in junior high.

How old was he now anyway?

How long has he been away from home?

Lance leans back down on the bed, shimming out of his leg armor so he's lounging in just his black leggings. He knows he should probably shower, but his body feels so heavy and now that the homesickness has hit, the last thing he wants to do is leave the bed. He sighs, fighting the urge to snuggle into the fresh linens and forces himself to the bathroom. Praying to space gods in thanks that the alien shower faucet was somewhat comprehensible, he twists on the hot water and kicked off his leggings before hopping under the stream. Humming in appreciation as the hot water works out on the sore knots and kinks in his neck and back, Lance allows his mind to float around in his head. Of course, it lands on the one thing he's been struggling with for what seems like eons.

Although things between him and Keith had improved since their rumble in the sinkhole, there was still some unspoken issues he probably should bring to his attention now that he was back to being the Black Paladin.

That Lance wasn't planning on returning to Voltron after they reached Earth.

It was the same six wheel concern he'd had before - with Shiro (the real one this time) and Keith back, that meant more pilots than lions. It was working now because without an arm Shiro couldn't pilot Black, but once his prosthetic was done it was game over. The Black Lion literally held Shrios soul in her for phoebs - that's a bond unlike anything Lance had ever seen before. He's been piloting Red for a while, but Lance is pretty sure the lion would still bite his head off if Keith so desired. Blue was more Allura's lion now that she was even with him, and she deserved to be a paladin more than Lance did. And there was also no way that Keith was going back to that group of sacrificial edgelords at the Blade without Lance throwing the universe's biggest fit. Especially not after he learned that they had no qualms with Keith nearly raming himself to a Garlan shield to his death cause that was _actually their whole thing._

So, it was a done deal. Shiro flies Black, Keith gets Red back, Allura pilots Blue and team Punk keeps their lions. Nobody really needed Lance. Okay yeah, there were a few tears shed and angry punches thrown when the news of his death came out, but that didn't mean anything about being required as a Paladin of Voltron. He could be the Earth's Legendary Cheerleader, supporting Voltron from Earth. Preferably on the beach, drink in hand, in one of those Hawaiian shirts middle-aged white guys wore when on vacation.

It's fine.

Totally fine.

Lance was 100% completely absolutely fucking fine.

He shut off the water and grabbed a towel, enjoying its fluffiness as he dried off and wrapped it around his waist and took another to wrap around his head.

"Coran wasn't kidding, these Balneumians are all about luxury."

He's in the middle of swiping open his phone to check on the others when he exits the bathroom and notices someone sitting on his bed. Lance screams, jumping back against the bathroom door, holding onto his towel for dear life and scaring his intruder, who falls backward off the bed with a loud thud.

Lance grabs his Bayard from the end table, morphing it into the Altean broadsword and charges over the bed before he hears a familiar yell.

"LANCE, STOP IT'S ME!"

Standing on the bed, Lance's blade stops right in front of Keith's nose. His hands are both up in the air in surrender and it takes Lance a solid five ticks for his mind to catch up with his body. His mouth is ten steps ahead, "KEITH?"

"Yeah!" Keith grunts as he sits up from the ground. "What the hell was that about? Are you nuts?"

"Me? What the hell are you doing here?" Lance asks as his Bayard collapses and he takes a step back on the bed, feet sinking into the mattress as Keith stands to his feet. "How'd you get into my room, you creep?"

"I sent you a text that I was going to the hot springs," Keith said, pointing to Lance's phone which had flown to the ground in the commotion. "I asked if you wanted to come and when you didn't answer I stopped by since our rooms are next to each other."

"Ugh, our huts are next to each other?" Lance groans out in disgust, hopping off the bed. "You better not snore."

"Shut up, you were always the loud one when we shared a wall in the castle, so don't even start." Keith counters and Lance sticks his tongue out at him. "Anyway, I saw you left your door unlocked so I figured I would just ask. Since you were obviously taking one of your three hour long showers, I took a seat and waited." He pauses, noticing that Lance is looking at him before irritably exclaiming, "What?!"

Lance doesn't really know what to say, the feeling in his chest is a twang between affection and annoyance. This is normal, but what isn't is the intensity of the emotion. He hasn't felt like that since before Keith left to join the Blade and even then it more like a low rumble. Easily ignorable.

"Nothing, just noticing that your hair looks stupid in that tiny ponytail," Lance says, swatting away the emotion with his hands as he starts rummaging through the drawers of the room searching for swim trunks. He sees Keith lightly touch his hair through the mirror. "So, was no one else available to join you? Where's Hunk and Matt?"

"Well, I didn't ask them," Keith says, leaning his chin on his elbow and glancing out the window of the room. "They mentioned in the chat something about doing mud wraps with Pidge and Allura posted a picture of her and Romelle getting facials."

"What? They're getting facials?!"

"Yes, I just said that," turning back to him and the pout was back. He was two years older, but still the same grouch. "Stop repeating the last thing I say, it's annoying."

"You're annoying," Lance mumbles, finally finding something that resembled swim trunks in the back of the bottom drawer. They were a weird orange color, but they would work. He hears the bed creak as Keith gets up.

"If you wanna join Allura, that's fine," he says, taking a turn to leave. "I know you said you...wanted to spend more time with her."

Lance isn't sure what takes over his body, maybe it was the lack of sleep or depression, either way, it causes him to reach out and take Keith by the arm to stop him. His hand doesn't even wrap around his bicep, and Lance doesn't know what to do with that information so he ignores it. Keith turns around and now Lance has to figure out what to actually say.

"Look it's whatever, man," he says intelligently, waving the swim trunks between them. "I mean, sure I rather hang out with the chicks, and my face is in desperate need of exfoliating, but they're probably already halfway done with their treatment and I'm not gonna barge in on their girl talk. I'll join you in the springs, just lemme get these on."

Keith nods and Lance grins, pulling his hand away. He doesn't know why, but bantering with Keith again feels right, despite him being a socially inept home invader.

"Okay now turn around," Lance orders spinning the other boy to look the opposite direction. "I'm getting changed and I don't need you looking at my junk."

"Lance!" Keith shrieks, his voice cracking. "I can wait outside!"

"Too late, towels already down and opening the door now will flash the entire street, ruining Voltron's reputation forever. Do you want that kind of responsibly on your shoulders, Keith?"

"What is wrong with you?!"

* * *

It doesn't take long for Lance to get ready and soon he and Keith are on their way to the hot springs. Along with trunks, he managed to find a pair of slide-on sandals, sunglasses and the space version of the Hawaiian shirt he was fantasizing about earlier. He had slipped it on, keeping it unbuttoned, as he turned to Keith for his take.

"Are you seriously going to wear that?" Keith asked eyebrow arched as Lance looked himself over in the mirror. "It's warm here and the springs are only a five-minute walk. You don't even need a shirt."

"I think I'm rocking it," Lance has said, carding his hands through his hair. "I kinda look like my uncle Alvaro, minus the beer gut and gold chain." He sent a sly look to Keith, "I'm sure we could get you one, too. Maybe a black and purple version, y'know to match your ancestry."

"Ha ha...no," Keith had said, throwing the towel at Lance as he walked out of their hut. "Let's go."

They're walking to the hot springs, which ends up being longer than a five-minute walk as Keith leads them the wrong direction three times. Lance doesn't mind though, leering over his sunglasses as he scrolls through the group chat messages, his shirt hanging open in the warm Balneum air. It looks like everyone is off doing their own thing, enjoying the spa planet's amenities. He checks his direct messages, seeing there's a missed one from Allura about her and Romelle's facials. She sent a selfie of the two of them in purple facemasks, cheesing at the camera. He smiles warmly, typing a quick reply.

 **Lance** : What happened to coalition talks between Volton and Balneum?

 **Allura** : Coran and Shiro seemed to have it covered and I couldn't possibly leave Romelle by herself obviously!

 **Lance** : ofc! obvs!

 **Allura** : Is our skincare regime up to your stature?

 **Lance** : lol close but not quite

 **Allura** : Sorry for not inviting you! You can still join us if you wish and impart some of that human skin care technique to the Balneumians.

Lance looks up from his phone to see Keith very obviously look away from his screen. Was he peaking a glance at his conversation with Allura? He probably thinks Lance will ditch him to hang out with the girls instead, even though he already said he was going to the springs with him. Leave it to Keith to assume that Lance was a jerk. He'll show him.

Raising his phone in the air Lance quickly wraps an arm around the other boy's neck and goes, "Keith, smile!"

The flash from the front-facing camera snaps and Lance takes a second to see the shot. It's him smiling widely, cheeks pushing the bridge of his sunglasses up, while Keith is pulled into his neck, looking at the camera with only mild annoyance.

It's...cute.

The thought leaves Lance's mind the second he sees Keith's fist approach his face.

"It's just a selfie, Keith, relax!" He dodges just in time, dancing around Keith as he makes a grab for his phone. "What do you think you are, some kind of vampire who won't show up in pictures?"

Keith mumbles something about deleting pictures, but Lance is too busy typing his reply to Allura, attaching the picture in his message as he narrowly avoids Keith's tackle.

"Aha!" he shouts, holding the phone up in the air. "Victor-ARGH!"

Because Keith is a dirty cheater, he goes for Lance's knees sending both of them tumbling to the ground. The dirt flies around them as they tussle like dogs, wrestling for Lance's phone. Lance yelps as Keith grabs the back of his shirt and tugs hard. He manages to get the upper hand, flipping Lance on his back and pinning one of his hands to the ground. Lance is still able to pull the phone out of Keith's reach, but he knows it's only a matter of time before he snags it. Not feeling like asking Hunk to repair his broken phone, again, Lance thinks he can play dirty too.

"Holy shit, Keith is your fly down?"

"What?" Keith looks down at his shorts. "There's no fly on these-"

That's all the opening Lance needs and with a swift headbutt, Keith pulls his hands to his face and Lance is able to kick him back. He staggers and Lance shoves his phone in his pocket as he lunges forward, pinning Keith face-first into the dirt, as he sits on his back. He pulls both his wrists into his grip, admiring how uncharacteristically delicate they are.

"I win," Lance grins, adjusting his sunglasses with his free hand. "Take that, you grizzled asshole."

"How'd you get so fast?!" Keith spits, voice cracking. Lance finds himself blushing, which is weird because Keith is obviously very annoyed with him since he has a face full of dirt, but it's still a compliment. From Keith. That sure is something.

"Uh...I've been practicing." Lance says and for some reason feels the need to include, "Y'know, since you left."

"Oh yeah...right." Keith is quiet for a moment. "You're good. Still an idiot, but you're quick on your...um...feet."

"Cool...thanks...that's...yeah," Lance says intelligently before clearing his throat because this is getting really awkward and they're never going to get to the hot springs at this rate. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"You're not gonna take my phone once I get up, right?"

Keith is silent.

"Keith!"

"Fine! I won't! Just get off of me, you're heavy!"

Lance releases his wrists and steps back, enjoying the sight of Keith picking dirt out of his hair and wiping the dust off his chest. His phone buzzes in his pocket and he swipes it open to see that his selfie and note have gone through to Allura. 

 **Lance** : Thanks, but Keith and I are about to get our hot springs on. Doesn't he look so excited?

 **Allura** : Haha very!

 **Allura** : Ok you both enjoy and we'll see you at dinner tonight!

He puts his phone back into the pocket and follows Keith down the path towards the hot springs. They're met with two of the Balneumian assistants from earlier who lead them through what looks like to Lance to be a locker room.

"You can put your belongings in there," one of the Balneumian inform them, handing them each a key attached to an elastic band. "There are towels for you in the locker. Please change into those and enter the springs through that door."

The assistant points an opening at the end of the hall. Keith stutters out, "Wait...uh, so we're naked in the springs?"

Lance lifts an eyebrow and opens his mouth but Keith's hand cover it with a wet smack. He fights the instinct cultivated from years of fighting with siblings to lick Keith's palm.

"Yes, the hot springs are nude," the assistant explains, sending a skeptical look. "Will that be a problem?"

Keith sighs, removing his hand from Lance's face, "No, it's fine."

"Alright then, we will be just outside."

Lance watches the assistants leave and Keith uses his key to open his locker. As promised, he's greeted with a fresh, fluffy towel. He takes it before turning to Lance and giving him a look.

"What?" Lance demands. "I haven't even done anything yet!"

"It's...just keep to yourself over there," he orders, before turning around and slipping out of his swim trunks. Lance feels his cheeks warming as he spins around to stare at his locker. It takes him a few times, but eventually, he unlocks the door and places his shoes, sunglasses, and shirt inside. From the corner of his eye, he sees Keith adjust his towel, which is riding low on his hips. Low enough for Lance to catch sight of the tuff of dark hair under Keith's navel leading downwards to where his towel was covering.

This was so unfair. How could two years in space make someone suddenly hot?

He hears Keith slam his locker closed, "I'll meet you by the exit?"

"Yeah," Lance replies, knowing it's less of a question and more of a directive. After he hears Keith walk away, he drops his own trunks before wrapping a towel around his far less sexy waist. With a pout, he slams it shut, hooking the key around his ankle and meets Keith by the exit near the two assistants.

They are both led outside to the open-air baths that are surrounded by rocks and trees for privacy. The sky, a rosy peach color, indicates that it's dusk on the planet and soon nightfall will fall. It's warm though and the hot air wraps around them like a warm hug.

"You two will be the only ones in the bath, so feel free to spread out as much as you desire," the assistant motions to the bell at the edge of the springs. "If you require anything, please ring this and me or my associates can be of assistance. Please enjoy your stay, Paladins of Voltron!"

Keith and Lance both thank the staff before making their way to the springs. There are small stone steps at the edge, allowing them to make it under the water easily. While Keith walks in, like it's nothing, Lance tests the hot water first with his toe. Hissing at the heat, he sees Keith look back at him, water already up to his ribs. His towel still tied around his waist.

"Too hot for you?" he asks, eyebrow arched.

"No," Lance lies. "I'm just taking my time."

Once Lance is in the water, he bites the inside of his cheek to keep from whining, holding his towel in a vise grip. The bath isn't very deep and the heat does help relax his stiff muscles, but it's still hot and takes a few ticks to adjust.

"Hey, come over here." Keith directs and Lance wades over to where Keith is sitting by the edge of the bath. The small jets of warm water hit his knees and he hums in satisfaction. "Isn't that nice?"

Lance nods with another hum, turning around so he can lean into the rocks and let the pulses of the hot water wash over his tired muscles. He closes his eyes and extends his legs out and notices he's hitting Keith's ankle, but it doesn't bother him.

Keith's presence next to him brings him a sense of security he didn't recognize he was missing. Security is a strange thing to attribute to Keith, who's shoot-first-ask-questions-later-oh-no-they're-dead attitude isn't always simpatico with the peaceful mission of Voltron. His leadership style wasn't like Shiro's, who was like a dad you didn't want to disappoint, but as a peer who pushed you (in some cases kicking and screaming) to be the best version of yourself that he saw in you. Being Second-in-Command of Voltron with Keith was far more enjoyable, in Lance's opinion, than being it under Shrio. Especially Clone Shiro, who asides from being evil, was also kinda a giant dick.

Though they were opposites and rivals and Keith pretty much irritated him by breathing sometimes  (Keith is a mouth breather when he sleeps and how does that not annoy everyone else at the campsite? How?) it was hard for Lance to not admit that their bond had grown. They were an unlikely match but made a good team.

Maybe even friends.

He's ripped from his thoughts when Keith swipes a vicious kick at his foot, splashing water between them. Angrily he hisses, "Stop touching my foot with yours!"

"Like I would play footsie with your chicken legs!" Lance splashes a handful of water right at Keith's face. "I was shaking my foot!"

"Well, stop shaking it!"

"I can't, it's nervous energy!"

"We're in a relaxing bath, why are you nervous?"

"I dunno, stop yelling at me and maybe I'll stop being nervous!"

Okay, maybe "friends" was pushing it.

After one of the Balneumian assistants came back to scold them on how splashing was not allowed in the hot springs, Lance and Keith both apologize and promised to be on their best behavior. Floating on his stomach and holding his towel in place, Lance doggy paddles to the other side to ensure his and Keith's feet could be clear of any accidental touching. It's a small bath, so he can still hear Keith easily.

"So, uh, thanks for coming with me," he says and Lance can't tell if the flush on his face is from the springs or his general emotional constipation. "I know you would rather be with Romelle and Allura since...y'know."

Keith makes a motion with his hand which Lance chooses to translate into "since you have a crush on Allura", which again is not a big deal. Why does Keith keep bringing it up? Does he have a crush on Allura too? No, Lance remembers asking him before and Keith didn't have any interest. Maybe he’s pining for Romelle? Keith did find her and bring her aboard the ship so there could be something there.

Lance gets a weird feeling in his chest at the thought of Keith and Romelle. Probably because he's never seen him romantically with another living being before. Thinking of Keith kissing anyone is weird. Why was he doing that now?  

"Yeah no problem," Lance says with a shrug like he wasn't just thinking about Keith kissing people. "It's nice that Allura and Romelle can have their ladies day, it must be annoying for Allura to be cooped up with all us guys and Pidge all the time." He closes his eyes and sinks lower into the bath, letting it cover his neck and top of his chin. "And I don't wanna be that guy who keeps trying to tag along. You know how it is when you like a girl and you wanna play it cool."

There's a pause and Lance opens an eye to see Keith looking away, arms still hanging along the edge of the hot springs.

"Actually, I don't know," he says directly, still not facing Lance who is now sitting up, the water rolling off his chest. "I've never liked a girl before."

"Like, never had a crush before or," Lance makes a gesture with his hand. "Not into girls at all ever?"

"Not into girls at all ever," Keith repeats, sinking into the bath so the water is almost covering his mouth when he says, "I'm gay."

Every single light bulb in Lance's mind goes off at the statement.

Keith...is gay.

Immediately so many things about Keith make sense to Lance that didn't before and so many things no longer make sense. His disinterest in every female alien who's flirted with him, his brilliant comebacks, how tight his jeans were and how stupidly amazing he was that one time they all did space karaoke. How could Lance's gaydar not pick up _Keith_?! Of course Keith was gay! Holy shit, he was SO gay! Lance is now extra offended by his lack of fashion sense and terrible haircut - it's almost homophobic! And those fingerless gloves? Basically a hate crime.

Lance can tell that his face is giving away his thoughts again because he sees Keith closing off, his body curling in itself as he's mumbling, "It's not a big deal...it's whatever." and Lance wants to scream and maybe he does without knowing because he's babbling, "It's fine! No! It's totally fine!" as he's doggy padding back to Keith's side of the bath. Keith makes an irritable noise as he submerges his face in the water and Lance cries, "Keith! I'm serious!"

He's answered by bubbles as Keith continues to fake-drown. Lance tries to not roll his eyes as he grabs the other boy by the shoulder, pulling him up to look at him. "Keith, I'm bi."

"Huh?" is all Lance gets and honestly he's so frustrated with Keith he may just drown him himself. He'll tell Krolia it was an accident. Shiro could pilot the Black Lion. They'll all be fine.

"I am bisexual," Lance says, elongating each syllable like he's taking in slow motion. "I am attracted to men and women. Of the human or alien variety."

"I know what bisexual means," Keith huffs, sitting up. "I mean more like, _you're_ bi?"

"I am."

"But all the girls in space you've flirted with..." Keith is sputtering now and Lance shrugs.

"Doesn't mean I haven't flirted with the guy aliens, too." He wags his finger in Keith’s face and leans back against the rocks next to him. He can tell Keith is still a little shell-shocked because he doesn’t say anything about Lance encroaching on his personal space. "Also, you were off on your murder missions with the Blade, you haven't seen me in months. I could've been on tons of dates with hot alien dudes and you wouldn't even know about it."

It's a joke but Keith looks hurt anyway. Lance kicks his foot, water between them waving, getting him to look him in the face again. "I wasn't, but I could've been! I was a real heartbreaker at the Garrison, y'know."

Keith actually scoffs. Like he opens his mouth and the noise of "scoff" exits. "Honest! I hooked up with Todd Harris when we were both junior cadets!"

"What?!" he shrieks, turning to face Lance, deadly serious. "Todd Harris, the engineering guy?" Lance nods and Keith's face falls, "I...hooked up with him too..."

Lance gasps, "Shut up! When?"

"Uh...I think it was when we were both Cadets. It was right before I got kicked out," he rubs the back of his neck. His cheeks are red and not from the bath. "I can't believe he hooked up with a cargo pilot..."

"Okay, first of all, that's rude," Lance points his index finger up, his middle finger following. "Second of all, he hooked up with me first, so hope you enjoyed my sloppy seconds."

"That's gross."

"Did you know he had a girlfriend? Like long-term, dating-since-forever, kind of girlfriend?"

"Ugh, no, but that's upsetting," Keith grimaces, "I mean, it was just at a party and we didn't really...talk."

"Classy."

"Shut up! You hooked up with him too!"

"Yeah and then he and his _very serious_ girlfriend asked me to be their third in a threesome," Lance says, casually inspecting his fingernails as Keith pales. "I declined, obviously, but of course they thought they were the first straight couple to invite the bi guy to spice up their sex life."

"Shit...that sucks," Keith says and Lance shrugs. "No, I mean it. That really fucking sucks, man. You don't deserve that."

Lance fails to hold back a smile because Keith would come to his defense against a dumb guy who was a jerk to him years ago. He always had his friends back.

"Thanks," Lance grinned, nudging Keith with his elbow. "It’s kinda funny that we're Eskimo Brothers now, huh?"

"Not even a little bit," Keith deadpans and Lance tries to hide his laughter in the water, but nearly chokes and drowns. When he’s able to breathe again, they enjoy the silence together for a moment before Keith asks, "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did, but sure."

"Does it feel different when you like a guy than when you like a girl?"

He turns to fully look at Keith lazily, his mind hazy from the hot springs.

Keith has always been handsome, which was always irritating, but now Lance could see him as more than that. The burn on his cheek from his fight with Shiro was still raw and mixed into the marks of tiredness under his eyes like blemishes on his porcelain skin. He's still awkward whenever he's forced to do anything that isn't fighting or piloting, especially conversation or any sort of personal reflection, but at least now is making attempts. At least, he is with Lance. He wasn't stupid, he could see effort when he saw it. Still, Keith's stubbornness and short temper were bundled with everything he truly admired about him, like his focus and tenacity. After months apart, Lance saw that Keith still needs him like Lance needed him. It isn't a competition anymore. They're partners and the notion makes his chest fill with affection.

Lance knows that Keith's question is earnest but is still hard for Lance to answer and feelings are complicated.

"Sometimes," he smiles and Keith hums, not requiring any further explanation.

They sit in silence again and it's comfortable. Above them, the sky above Balneum, filled with their own stars and moons, begins to change. The assistant returns to the bath to inform them that the festival was starting soon. Lance can feel his skin pruning. They should probably get ready to leave.

Lance pokes Keith in the shoulder to make sure he's not asleep and get his attention. He doesn't reply but he hears a groan, so at least Lance knows he's alive.

"Hey, Keith..." He grins, tapping Keith's foot with his own underneath the water and begins to sing, "Two bros~"

"No.

"Sitting in the hot springs~"

"Lance."

"Arms length apart~" Lance continues, extending his long arms towards Keith, who merely stares at him. "Cause they're both gay!"

Keith stands up, holding his towel as he climbs over the edge of the bath and marches to the lockers.

"Aw, c'mon, Keith, that was funny!" Lance calls after him, swimming to the edge of the bath, trying to hold back his own laughter. "Keith, get back here! We were bonding! _Keith_!"

* * *

After rinsing in the shower and changing into a comfortable pair of Balneumians slacks and top, Lance joins the other at the festival in the middle of the grounds. Around them, the citizens of Balneum enjoyed space carnival games, fried treats, and some truly dangerous rides. One looks like it drops you literally into the ground and it another looks like it spins you until you vomit. Both options look terrible, but Lance is still curious. Feeling the familiar shove of a small body hitting his hip, he looks down to see Tak and two of his friends staring up at him. They’ve all gotten their faces painted.

“It’s the Red Paladin!” Tak yells, grabbing Lance’s pant leg and shaking. “He flies the Red Lion!”

Yeah, that still sounds weird. A face that isn’t his always comes to mind when he thinks Red Paladin. He shakes his head break the thought. Hadn’t he had enough of that guy for one day?

“Yup, that’s me!” Lance beams, hands on his hips performatively. “I’m the Red Paladin, the fastest lion and right hand of Voltron!”

The children gasp and begin to talk loudly over each other to ask Lance questions about his adventures, his lion, and Voltron. He tries to answer as many as he can and is quickly reminded that when there are more than two children in a pack and they are outside, everything turns into yelling, regardless of species. He’s instantly reminded of his brother Luis’ children back on Earth. How old are Nadia and Sylvio now?

He closes his eyes and pushes back the thought. He needed to stay present.

“Mr. Paladin Sir?” he opens his eyes to see Tak staring back at him. “Are you ok?”

Lance forces a smile, too big and exaggerated but it’s enough for Tak, “I’m amazing! What did you guys get painted on your face?”

“I got the scar like the Black Paladin has!” one of the children says, pointing to the purple triangle painted on his cheek. 

“I got the Altean marks, like Princess Allura,” the other child says, smiling as she points to her cheeks. “That way I can have magic too!”

“I got a star cause space is cool,” Tak says with a nod.

“It is very cool,” Lance agrees.

“Tak! Mindi! Toez! Are you bothering the Red Paladin?” comes a booming voice and Lance looks up to see Makkah walking over, Shiro and Coran next to him.

“Quick! It’s Emperor Zarkon, run!” Tak yells and the children take off with a shriek, weaving between people’s legs and ducking under tables. Lance shakes his head and stands at his full height, hands in his pockets.

“And here I thought we defeated Zarkon!” he jokes when Shiro approaches, also dressed in Balneumian clothing, the green sleeve on the side of his missing arm tied neatly. Lance was still getting used to his white hair, which was a stark contrast to the colorful lights of the festival. He pats Lance’s shoulder affectionately and Makkah shakes his head in amusement. 

“Apologizes for my son, he and his friends are big fans of yours,” he smiles. “I was telling Coran earlier, the children of Balneum love the Voltron Shows your team has done. They beam them here every movement.”

“You hear that?” Coran says, twisting his mustache and puffing his chest. “Every movement!”

“It’s okay, Tak is a good kid,” Lance follows the three men instep. “He reminds me of my family back home.”

“You have children, young Paladin?” Makkah asks and Lance blushes, waving his hands in front of his face.

“No, no, not me! My older brother Luis has two kids around your son’s age,” he clarifies and shrugs. “At least, they were before I left Earth.”

Shiro gives Lance a look, which Lance ignores because he _knows_ that Shiro _knows_ that he misses home, but he doesn’t need to be reminded of it every thirty seconds. Lance is fine. Everything is fine.

They walk through the crowd and Lance sees Hunk’s head stick up above the crowd. Making their way over, they see that Pidge and Matt are with him, both with handfuls of fried food. 

“Oh my gosh, Chief Makkah, this festival food is amazing,” Hunk says, shaking the stick in Shiro’s face. “Shrio, buddy, you need to try this meatstick ASAP!”

“Meat...stick?” Shiro manages to look politely disgusted and Lance is sure that he’s the only person in the universe who could do that.

“C’mon, Shiro! It’s not like it’s gonna kill you,” Pidge says around a mouthful of what looks like space popcorn. “... _again_.”

“Pidge!” Matt scolds and turns to Shiro, “Meatstick is a bad name for it. It’s really more like a corndog back home”

Shiro seems less disgusted and tepidly takes a small bite of the food Hunk is still pushing into his face. He chews and his face quickly lights up in delight, “Oh wow!”

“Right?!” Hunk says and gives Shiro the stick and Lance his other. “Here, I got them for you guys. Figured we’d run into each other eventually.” 

They walk together, space meatsticks in hand, telling each other about their various spa treatments. Lance learns that the mud wraps did include them being enclosed in the actual dirt and afterward they were wrapped in space seaweed and wore cold compresses on their faces. Pidge shows him a picture on their phone. 

“We looked like space sushi! It was so cool!” 

There’s a call of their names and soon Allura and Romelle jog up to them. They’re both dressed in long Balneumian dresses. The tops are short-sleeved with a high neckline, and long sheer skirt with a lace pattern, Romelle in pink and Allura in blue. Romelle is holding a cotton candy stick that matches both their dresses. Lance notices that Allura has her hair tied in a high ponytail and admires how effortlessly pretty she is. She smiles at them brightly before shoving a stuffed animal shaped like an owl with too many wings in their faces.

“Look what Romelle won!” she cheers excitedly. “She’s an expert at these games! I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“Which game?” Hunk asks and Romelle points to a booth with the water gun race.

“It’s quite simple really,” she says, making a finger gun and closing one eye. “If you can shoot straight, you can win.”

“Romelle is an excellent markswoman,” Allura continues to gush, turning to Lance. “You two should play against each other! It’s a lot of fun!”

“Princess Allura told me that you’re quite the sharpshooter, Lance,” Romelle says and Lance can’t help but notice how the _A_ in his name curls around her tongue. It’s not as affectionate as how Allura says it. She drags the out the _A_ sounding like an _O_ like Allura, but it’s harsher and he doesn’t know what to make of it. “It can be a good challenge, yes?”

She turns her finger gun at him, mimicking a shot. He feels himself blush as his own move is used against him. Allura laughs behind the stuffed animal.

“I showed her your finger guns. She liked them!”

Lance nods, still a bit speechless. The group has moved on to talking about other things at the festival, so he changes the subject. Romelle looks over her shoulder, taking a bite of her cotton candy.

“How were the facials? Your skin looks radiant,” he asks Allura with a lopsided grin. “Well, uh, more so than usual!”

Allura's face twists slightly, “Yes, they were...interesting. It was definitely more luxurious than I first thought. Krolia was right that this planet has cleaned itself up in the last 10,000 years. However, the facials were a little uncomfortable, since we couldn’t move our faces due to all the layers of the masks they put on.”

“And the leeches,” Romelle offers helpfully between a mouthful of candy and Lance looks at her skeptically. “Are leeches a normal part of human facials, Lance?”

“Um…. _no_ ” he answers slowly, turning between Romelle and Allura hoping to see if they’re kidding. “Why did they put leeches on your face? And how many leeches are we talking about? Like, one leech is bad enough, but are we talking more than three here?”

“Hmmm, that’s a good question,” Allura taps her chin with her forefinger, turning to Romelle. “Think towards the end I had about six leeches. You definitely had less.”

“They kept falling off,” Romelle nods, taking another bite of her cotton candy. “It was like they knew I didn’t want them on my face and death was a better option.”

Lance stares at the blonde blankly and Allura explains, “Romelle’s sense of humor is rather dry. It’s very Altean.”

“Right...” he says slowly turning back to Allura, trying to ignore the goosebumps he was getting at the thought of intergalactic leeches. “Well, in any case, it sounds like you two had a great time.”

“We did!” Allura beams at Romelle and Lance feels his chest tighten. She picks off a piece of cotton candy from Romelle’s stick and easily pops into her mouth. “Did you and Keith enjoy the hot springs?”

“Yeah, it was fun,” Lance hears a voice behind him, causing him to jump. He turns around and sees that it’s Keith, his mother and his cosmic wolf at his side. He rests his hand on his chest, trying to urge his heartbeat to settle. Keith raises an eyebrow, “Why are you so jumpy?”

“We were talking about leeches and it was making him uncomfortable,” Romelle explains, extending her cotton candy stick to Keith. “Candy stick?” 

“Sure, thanks,” Keith says, leaning over to pick off a bit and tossing it into his mouth. “Why were you talking about leeches? There weren’t leeches in our hot springs.” 

“There better not have been!” Lance shrieks, peering over his shoulder to find the others. “If so I’m gonna give Chief Makkah a piece of my mind!”

“Relax Lance, I believe the leeches were only for our facials,” Allura assures turning to Krolia. “Krolia, did you undergo any of the treatments?”

Krolia is no longer in her Garla armor, wearing a dark purple version of the top and slacks that were provided to the rest of the paladins. She's stitched it tightly on her waist and cuffed the legs of her pants to make the outfit looks way better than it does on any of them. It's clear that Keith did not inherit her sense of style.

“No, I instead took a walk with this girl here and explored some of the outskirts of the resort,” Krolia explains, scratching the wolf behind the ears, her tongue extends with a pant as she leans into Krolia’s touch. “It was beautiful, but now I’m a bit hungry.”

“Hunk said there was a fried meatstick booth towards the edge of the festival that is supposed to be delectable. We were on our way over if you’d like to join us?”

Krolia nods and Allura turns to Lance and Keith, “Do you two want to join too?” 

“Yes-”

“No-”

Lance looks to Keith who stares at him looking flustered before clearing his throat, “Um...I was going to go and play some of the games. They...uh...look kinda fun.”

“Oh cool,” Lance doesn’t know what he’s saying before it’s leaving his mouth. “I mean, they do seem really fun and Hunk already gave me a meatstick, so I’m not really that hungry. So...do you want company?” 

There’s a pause between them as Keith stares at Lance intently. He can feel his cheeks warming and honestly Lance doesn’t know what’s happening between them but the idea of Keith playing balloon darts or the bottle game alone makes him feel really shitty. Also, when was the last time he got to really beat Keith’s ass in a game with no consequences?

“You don’t have to come,” Keith's voice is low as he gives a look to where Allura and the rest of them are standing. “Don’t you want to spend alone time with Allura?”

“Yeah, but then who’s gonna beat your washed out ass in the water gun game?” Lance quips, throwing an arm over his shoulder before turning to the group. “Actually, Keith and I are gonna go play some games, if that’s cool?”

“Okay, meet us by the dance area when you’re done!” Allura smiles, thumbing the stage at the end of the street. “Chief Makkah said the band that’s playing is one of the best on Balneum!”

Lance agrees and waves goodbye, arm still around Keith’s shoulder as they waded through the crowd. He doesn’t notice that Keith makes no effort to remove his arm.

“Alrighty prepare to get your ass beat, Mullet!” 

* * *

When Keith and Lance meet the rest of the group by the dance floor, it’s Shiro who notices first. 

“Wait, did you guys seriously win the six-foot-tall stuffed animal?!” he exclaims when Lance drops it in front of their feet. It’s a tall yellow bird creature with a blue tie around its neck. Neither of them knew what the creature was, although Lance guessed it was some sort of chicken based on the beak and wings. Keith said it was a duck, which made absolutely no sense and further proved to Lance that Keith didn’t know what animals were.

After both losing multiple rounds of games to each other, a Balneumian couple had sat next to them at the water gun booth and challenged them to match. Not being ones to lose, they agreed and after ten rounds of back-to-back winning, they were presented with the largest stuffed animal the booth had to offer. Yeah, they were a few credits poorer, but at least they had something to show for it.

“Good game,” one of the Balneumians said, shaking Lance’s hand with a smile. “I was hoping to win that for my boyfriend, but it looks like you’re the better shot! Hope your boyfriend enjoys it!”

“My...wait, he’s not my boyfriend,” Lance tried to explain but the couple was already heading off to another booth, hand-in-hand. He turned over his shoulder to see Keith standing next to the six-foot animal, admiring its size. The twist was back in Lance’s chest and he told himself it was indigestion from the meatstick.

“Yes, we did,” Lance preens, tapping the toy on the head. “Meet Commander McChickenface.”

“That’s not its name,” Keith assures Shiro and Lance rolls his eyes dramatically. “Because it’s not a chicken, it’s a duck.”

“Keith, we’ve been through this like ten times, there are no yellow ducks! This is obviously a chicken!”

“Rubber ducks are yellow, Lance,” Keith argues, leaning over the stuffed animal to get in Lance’s personal space. “Chickens aren’t even yellow, they’re white!”

“Actually, you’re both wrong,” Coran says, pointing at the toy between them. “That’s a Laika-Cova, a murderous predator from the planet Steon XS7G in the Alpha Quadrant that lures on the children of its enemies by eating their infants in the dead of night. It inserts its thin mouth into the prey's body and drains them of its bodily fluids. Steon XS7G only has a single quintant of sunlight when its people can be free of the Laika-Cova and their murderous rampage on their people.”

They pause and look down at the stuffed animal before looking back up.

“Then what’s the bow for?” Lance demands, pointing at the toy and Coran shrugs.

“To make it look cute, I suppose!”

“Congrats on winning your child murderer prize,” Pidge says, clapping their hands. “I’m sure that’ll be great for coalition building.”

Lance is about to shoot an outstanding and witty comeback when there’s a loud pop and suddenly Keith’s cosmic wolf appears between them, growling loudly. Pidge screams, leaping at Lance and climbing his back like a tree, their legs hooks around his arms as he struggles to keep from toppling over. The wolf barks and snarls before charging at the stuffed Laika-Cova, sinking her sharp teeth into the material with a loud rip.

“Blue, no!” Keith scolds, charging at the wolf who shakes the stuff animals sending stuffing everywhere.

“ _Blue?_ ” Lance and Pidge echo in unison, taking a pause from the horrific sight of Keith’s pet absolutely destroying their prize to pieces. Making no attempt to help Keith savage whatever is left of the toy, Coran says something about karma against the Laika-Cova. They exchange a look as the stuff animal’s head is thrown off, flying past them. Children around them look horrified and there’s a lot of loud crying, but Pidge and Lance are too distracted by the very important piece of information that has just been presented to them.

Keith’s pet’s wolf is named Blue.

That is so incredibly stupid and uncreative.

_It’s fucking adorable._

Sensing her owner’s defeat, the wolf - Blue - takes the toy into her mouth and teleports away with another loud pop, leaving a trail of stuffing in her wake. Pidge climbs down from their perch on Lance’s shoulder, giving a small salute.

“Goodbye, Commander McChickenface.”

Pidge and Coran leave to join the others at a small picnic table by the bar and stage where everyone is gathering food and drinks from the banquet. Lance waits behind and watches Keith stand up, wiping the dirt off his slacks. He turns to see Lance’s face light up, cheshire grin forming. 

“Can we not right now?” he groans, running his hands through his dark hair and Lance shakes his head.

“Nope,” he answers, popping the _P_ and shoving his hands in his pockets as he follows Keith to the table. “Blue, huh?” 

“Because her fur is blue.”

“Oh quiznack, is it really?” Lance jokes and Keith stomps ahead in a huff, but he can see his flush on the back of his neck. He sits at the table next to Shiro _pouting_. Lance doesn’t even feel a little bit bad, Blue was a ridiculous name for a cosmic space wolf and every bit of shit that Lance was giving Keith for it was incredibly well-deserved.

The table fills quickly, especially after Hunk and Matt return with a tray of drinks. Lance takes a sniff, not trusting any liquid from a new planet after the last time he tried space juice and spent the entire next day headfirst in the space toilet. It’s surprisingly fruity, but he picks up the second smell and turns to Hunk, “Is there liquor in this?” 

“Nooooo,” Hunk says in a way that confirms yes there is definitely liquor in whatever these drinks are and by the smell probably a lot of it. 

Next to them, Shiro takes a glass taking a sip, his face twists before he turns back to Hunk, “Someone has a heavy hand.” 

“It is a refreshingly fruity beverage to help an exhausted team of universe defenders unwind,” Hunk says, handing a glass to Romelle and Allura. “Responsibly.”

As the night draws on, the festival’s band begins to play and the locals all gather around the stage. From their table, they have a perfect view of the entertainment and easy access to the dance floor. Makkah stops by to check in that they’re enjoying themselves and introduces them to his husband Tyke, who is carrying an exhausted looking Tak in a piggyback. He greets them with a warm smile, the corner of his eyes crinkling behind light-rimmed spectacles. He’s a tall, lean Balneumian with his ears tied in a knot at the top of his head. They leave shortly and Allura politely explains to the group that the Balneumian were pansexual with each sex having the ability to procreate, regardless of presenting gender. 

“Space is gay and awesome,” Pidge says, taking a long sip of their drink. 

A vargas passes and Lance is passed buzzed and hanging happily in the land of totally tipsy. He doesn’t know what Hunk puts in these drinks, but they’re sweet and delicious and therefore very dangerous. There are a few empty glasses by his arms, collecting themselves on the table, and Lance couldn’t tell you how many were his. Somewhere between three and four.

Next to him Allura is all giggles with Romelle, across from them Keith and Matt are in a heated drunken debate about probably something stupid, next to their table Coran is in the midst of showing Hunk and Pidge some ancient Altean dance that looks like a mix between the Macarena and Cotton Eye Joe and Krolia and Shiro are both standing facing the stage, watching the performance of the Balneum band. Blue has dragged the remains of Commander McChickenface under the table, where she’s been gnawing at it between getting pieces of food snuck to her by literally everyone when Keith isn’t looking.   

There’s a warm feeling in his chest and he closes his eyes in an attempt to burn this memory into his heart. Knowing what they’re up against, he’ll need it eventually. 

Allura brushes his arm and he turns around to see her staring at him, her cheeks are flushed causing a contrast against her facial marks. 

“Looks like the dance floor isn’t as full,” she claps her hands together in excitement. “We should take advantage of it!”

She then stands up, making a show of pulling as many of them as she can to follow her and Romelle to the stage area. Coran, Pidge, and Hunk follow enthusiastically, while Matt makes a failed attempt to hide behind Shiro, who is whisked away when Allura hooks her arm through his and drags him forward, Romelle pushing Matt behind her. Lance looks over to see that Keith, of course, is still sitting at the table.

“No way, not a chance, buddy,” he says, taking hold of the other boy’s arm and pulling him up to stand. “C’mon, Dancing Queen!”

Keith makes feeble attempts to break away, turning to Krolia for help who smirks almost knowingly behind her drink, waving them off, “Have fun!”

“Wow, your mom sold you out!” Lance laughs loudly and Keith looks devastated as he’s hauled to where the others are gathered. “That’s ice cold, man.”

The music is loud, fast and bouncy. Lance can feel Keith’s tension next to him, but he loves a challenge. He pulls him forward, into the deep end, the music engulfing them both. For once, Keith is following Lance’s lead as they move with the music, hands in the air, body moving like an uncoiling rope, eyes on fire. Matt and Pidge are jumping around Shiro, and Pidge does the robot as an ode to his lost garla arm. The laugh that bursts from Shiro is so joyous that it makes Keith turn and stare. Lance wants to ask him if he’s ever heard Shiro this liberated, but doesn’t want to break the moment. Allura moves in her Balneumian dress like her hips were made to sway, the material catching light that twirls above them from the stage, launching every shade of the rainbow into the darkness. Romelle and her are dancing like it's jive, twisting, turning, holding hands as they changed sides. Lance prides himself a dancer, his lanky limbs good for something, but it’s Coran who surprisingly has the best dance moves all of them and Lance breaks from Keith to grab Hunk and the three of them are mirroring the Altean’s moves, a circle around them forming as the Balneumians cheer them on.

They’re all several different degrees of drunkenness and Lance is sure they look like idiots, but it’s not like anyone else notices. They’re the Paladins of Voltron, defenders of the universe, who cares if they can dance well? 

As the music slows, the dance floor empties and their group goes back to their table to hydrate and recover. Allura twirls to Lance, they’re the only two left on the floor, and she bows at the hip, asking him to dance overdramatically. He smiles, taking her hand and twirling her slowly before pulling her to him, whisking her off. It reminds him of when he caught her when she first fell from the cryopod. Her laugh is infectious and he’s happy he can hear it, despite his ringing ears and increased blood alcohol levels. Though to be fair, he’s unsure if he would have the guts to do this sober.

“I’m happy you gave in and let us stop at Balneum,” he says as they sway together. “I can’t remember the last time we were together like this since we held that party with the Arusians in the castle.” 

“That’s true, although I like this better,” Allura hums looking up at him, “This time I hope we won’t need to be put on lockdown or have _someone_ end up in a healing pod.”

“Ha ha ha,” Lance drones in good humor. “What’s a good party if someone doesn’t end up in healing pod the next day?”

“Jokes on you, there are no more healing pods,” she jabs him in the chest playfully and he mocks hurt.

They continue to dance and spin, the music around them lifting away gravity. Lance closes his eyes again, wanting to store this memory as well. He’s pulled when he hears the curl of Allura saying his name and he looks down at her staring at him.

“How are you?” she asks simply, her head tilted slightly as and Lance blinks away confusion. “I realize I haven’t properly checked in with you since we started on this journey back to your home.” Allura looked down at his chest, slightly downcast. “Coran told me how homesick you’ve been since joining Voltron.” 

“Yeah, I have been,” he says honestly. “Especially these last few months it’s been...difficult.” 

There’s a voice in the back of Lance’s head that nagging him to be honest with Allura and tell her his plan to leave the team after they’re on Earth. But to do so will also acknowledge that he’ll be letting her down. He’s seen Allura disappointed in those she’s depended on, and the feeling of betrayal through their lion link during their final fight with Lotor make him feel sick. Thinking ahead, he tries to visualize what his life could look like on Earth, supporting them from afar. The thought makes his heart sting, but the idea of weighing them down further hurts more.

“You’ve seemed in higher spirits recently, though,” Allura’s comment is a matter of fact, but he can hear the smile in her voice.

“I have?” 

“Yes, especially since a certain someone has rejoined our caravan,” her eyes swift and Lance follow to see Keith who is chatting with Hunk back at the table.

“Keith?!” Lance exclaims like the name is causing him physical pain. “You think Keith, the most obnoxious doofus this side of the Triangulum Galaxy, has me in a better mood?” 

Allura hums again, “It’s almost as if you’re the best versions of yourselves when you’re together.” 

“If by ‘almost’ you mean not at all, then yeah sure,” he mumbles, but Allura is smiling up at him and her movements slow before stopping altogether. Staring isn't quite the word for what Allura is doing, though that’s pretty much what she does. Her eyes rest on his face, unblinking and slowed, like she’s processing something, before she reaches and places her hand on his cheek. She doesn’t ask for permission to touch him, not like he would deny her. He couldn’t deny her anything.

He feels the warmth of her palm and closes his eyes to rest into it. His body is warm like it’s wrapped in a blanket made of confectioners sugar and warm cookies. His limbs feel gooey and his mind is swimming in the waves at Varadero Beach. There’s a pull like a tide and the syrupy feelings are gone, replaced with a steady hum like a motor while his nostrils fill with the scent of gasoline, sweet in its own way. His heart fills in his chest, uncaged and vulnerable, but safe. The hum grows louder, someone else’s thoughts passing through his mind. 

 _Does it feel different…_  

Then suddenly Lance is filled with a growing sense of melancholy. It swells in his stomach then up to his chest, where it mixes with something so painful he audibly heaves, gasping for air, his eyes flying open.

“A-Allura?” he pants, his eyes focusing on her as the drowning slowly ceases. “What was that?” 

She doesn’t answer. Pulling away from him, hands roaming down his arms, leaving behind goosebumps as they make their way to hold both of his hands in hers. They stand like that, frozen in space and time, as the song ends. 

“Thank you for dancing with me, Lance.” Her voice is soft and perhaps it is her lips that give away her intention, not quite smiling still, but tilting as if they mean to.

“O-of course, Princess,” he whispers and she lets go of his hands, too quick for his finger to linger, turning to head back to the table. He stands on the dancefloor motionlessly as the next song ramps up. His hands feel like they’re on fire from Allura’s warmth and he feels both hot and cold. His heart thumping in his ears so loudly he almost doesn’t notice someone calling him.

“Lance!” he hears again and it’s not his fault that he missed it the first time because the person who’s calling him is Romelle and she says his name _weird_. He walks to her and she hands him another drink which he drowns in a few gulps, trying to silence his rapid thoughts. “Oh wow, you drank that quickly!”

“Yeah,” he exhales deeply, feeling the burn in his mouth from whatever he just drank. When his vision starts to haze in the corner, he wonders if it’s was poison.

“It wasn’t poison,” Romelle answers and Lance jumps.

“Can you read thoughts?!” he balks, wiggling his fingers between them and Romelle arches her eyebrow. 

“No, you spoke out loud,” she says slowly, narrowing her violet eyes. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah yeah,” he repeats, pinching the bridge of his nose. He’s drunk and his mind is still scrambled from whatever just went down with Allura. “It’s just...loud. Everything is very loud. Do you think it’s loud? It’s loud right?”

“There is live music. That typically is very loud.” 

“Right, yeah that’s it. I gotta...walk. Wanna walk?” He doesn’t wait for Romelle’s answer and starts heading aimlessly in whatever direction that is not the stage.

“Oh, um okay!” Romelle lifts her skirt as she runs behind him. They walk for a few dobosh, ending up at the outskirts of the festival on a hill with a tree ontop. There’s a clear view of the sky, littered with the multiple moons that orbit Balneum.

Yes, this is a wonderful place to have a brain aneurysm.

Lance flops cross legged on the grass. Romelle stares, blinks, and then mimics his actions, her blonde hair flowing around her when she lands. She pulled her legs to her chest, resting her chin on her kneecaps, watching him. Lance leans forward, his hands on his tighs, trying to focus his vision on the grass they’re on, which is blue and not the green they have back home.

Earth. 

That where this is going to all end.

His heart is heavy again and he wants to throw up, but to do so in front of Romelle would be rude and gross. And Lance may be a hot mess right now, but he is always a  _gentleman_ and wouldn’t subject anyone to watching him hurl his guts out. Especially in such a nice spot. 

“I don’t mind if you vomit,” Romelle states matter-of-factly and Lance realizes his inner voice was his outside voice again. 

“Quicknack,” he groans, resting his head in his hands. “I don’t know what happened, but after Allura and I danced, she touched my face and things got...weird? It was like my mind was melting.” He looks at Romelle hopelessly, “Is that an Altean thing? Can you guys, like, cause drug trips?”

Romelle shrugs, which is very unhelpful. Lance doesn’t even know why she’s here, even though he’s the one who invited her.

“Princess Allura is from an Altean culture that has been extinct for centuries. The type of control over quintessence that she and Lotor wield is incomprehensible to us modern Alteans,” she explains, wrinkling her nose. “Nevertheless, all Alteans are very receptive to emotional energy, which you discharge in copious amounts. More so than any of the other Paladins. I felt it during the festival. The power you have to pull people in is ardent.”

“Well thanks, I guess,” Lance falls back into the off-colored grass with a sigh. “Nice to know I’m _emotional_.”

“You are very welcome!” Romelle grins and Lance doesn’t have the energy to explain to her that he was being sarcastic. “Your heart is very loud, beating for two people like that.”

“Is that an Alteanian saying?” 

“Oh, it could be different for humans,” Romelle sits up straight and places a hand over her heart. “When Alteans have affection for each other, we can tell because our hearts beat louder for that individual and we can feel that emotional energy.”

“Right, of which I _exude_ , as we learned.” Lance rolls his eyes and Romelle huffs and grabs his wrists, pulling him to sit up straight. “Nooo, my head is still spinning.”

“Stop complaining and listen,” she orders placing one hand on his chest and her other cupping his ear. “Can you hear that?”

Lance hears the steady thump of his heart and nods.

“Now, I want you to think about Princess Allura.” 

He does and through Romelle’s hand he hears the volume of his heartbeat rising. He blushes deeply and stammers, “Wait...so Allura…?”

“If I can tell, then yes she can tell,” Romelle says evenly and somehow Lance’s face gets warmer. “Oh no...did you think you were being decret?” 

“I mean, maybe a little?” he tries, staring down at his own chest. “I didn’t know my own _emotional aura_ would out me to her. That’s kinda humiliating.”

“If it makes you feel any less humiliated, everyone knows,” she says completely earnestly. “Everyone is aware of your feelings for Princess Allura.”

“Okay, that’s just great…”

“Even Shiro,” Romelle continues and Lance wonders if he can astral project himself to anywhere else in the universe but here on mortification alone. “And his soul was trapped in the Black Lion for _phoebs_.”

“ _Thank you,_ Romelle.” Lance cuts and through her hand he hears his heartbeat is back at normal volume. “So who’s this second-”

He’s disrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching. They both turn around to see Keith standing at the edge of the hill.

“Oh!” he says, looking surprised. “Sorry...I didn’t mean to...interrupt?”

“You aren’t interrupting anything, Keith,” Romelle smiles, her hand still on Lance’s ear. “Lance had a bit of a dizzy spell after dancing and I was helping him find his footing. Isn’t that right, Lance?”

Lance doesn’t respond because can’t hear her over the volume at which is heart is beating. He’s motionless, the thumping of his heart louder than anything he thought he could hear.

He had feelings for two people.

He has feelings for _Keith_.

Instantly, he is brought back to whatever vision Allura brought to him, the hum of a motor and the smell of gasoline. The question that floated through his mind wasn’t an abstract concept, it was something Keith had asked him about that day.

 _"Does it feel different when you like a guy than when you like a girl?"_  

Apparently, to his heart, they sounded different.

Romelle removes her hands from Lance and smiles softly. She climbs up to her feet, wiping the blades of grass and dirt from her dress, “It’s getting late. I am going to return to my quarters for the night.”

“Will you be alright getting back on your own?” Keith asks and she waves him off.

“My people have survived far worse than a solo walk to a hotel room,” she says over her shoulder and gives Lance a final look. “Goodnight, Paladins.”

Keith watches her until she’s out of sight before turning back to him. He doesn’t move, just stands in the darkness. 

“Are you…” Keith tries, running a hand through his hair nervously. “Are you okay?”

Lance is not okay.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he lies, his voice strained and throat hoarse. 

He’s definitely having a mental breakdown, and to be honest, it was probably a long time coming. He’s out in space, isolated from everything he knew on Earth, he’s piloting a magical cosmic lion, his original lion has since rejected him and was now being piloted by the Alien Princess who he likes so much he literally gave his life for her, and _this fucking guy_ and him went from rivals to friends to basically nothing cause he left and came back super hot with a pet wolf named Blue, and now another Alien girl just put her hand on his ear to let him know that he’s crushing on both of them in the most interstellar bisexual crisis the universe has ever seen.

Oh, and he’s drunk.

“Everyone was heading back and didn’t see you, so I figured...to make sure we keep everyone together,” Keith does that thing with his hands, waving it between them like Lance knows what the hell he means. It makes him so furious because he does know _exactly_ what he means because he _always_ knows what Keith means. He’s the most emotionally constipated being in the galaxy, but apparently, Lance is hyper emotional, oozing emotional energy, and it’s enough for the both of them.

Quiznak.

“Can you...just sit with me for a tick?” Lance asks, releasing the tension didn’t know he was holding, letting his shoulders drop. His head feels fuzzy, and it was hard to focus on much of anything with Keith looking at him like that. There’s shuffling as Keith drops next to him, their thighs touching, sending a shock through Lance like an electric current. 

He turns and looks at Keith, their faces so close that he can feel his breath on his face. They both smell like space liquor and sweat from the dance floor. There’s a patch of dry skin between Keith’s eyebrows. Lance takes in these small details and while wondering if Garla ears can hear how loudly his heart was beating like Alteans can.

“I saw you and Allura,” Keith says quietly, eyes shifting away. “I figured something may have happened. Because you both looked...upset?”

Lance's eyes flick to Keith’s mouth as he chews on his bottom lip. It’s one of his tells, and Lance knows this. He knows because he’s his right-hand man in Voltron and knowing Keith keeps them alive when things get dicey. It keeps Keith grounded when he starts to spiral. Lance doesn’t know his own tells, but he can bet that Keith does. Lance and Keith. Neck-in-neck.

Why was he so scared of letting himself fall for him?

“I’m thinking of leaving Voltron when we reach Earth,” Lance says, not looking away from Keith. “I wanted you to know...because you should know.”

Keith is silent, his eyes wide and Lance can imagine the sparks in his brain desperately trying to connect the dots but instead short circuit. Lance knows better than to expect yelling, this isn’t like when Pidge tried to leave. They both knew this was different and they were different.

“I appreciate you letting me know.” Keith nods and Lance, already deciding to blame his inhibition on the alcohol, rests his head on his shoulder. It’s warm and broad, whisks of Keith’s hair tickling his forehead.  

He tries to figure out how long these feeling have been manifesting, and going back it’s hard to pinpoint. Maybe it was there the whole time and their entire rivalry was Lance’s dumb way of filtering his own attraction. Like they were kids on the playground and competing with Keith was like pulling his pigtails. Or a way for Lance to prove to Keith that he was worthy of being loved.

He’s still trying to prove that worth.

Lance looks up at Keith, “I like having you back.”

There a blush across Keith's face and Lance needs to turn away, though he reaches out for Keith's hand and intertwines their fingers. There’s a moment of hesitance before Keith squeezes in return. Lance’s dares himself to look at Keith and is rewarded to see his eyes crinkled in the corners, smiling.

“I like being back.”

* * *

When Lance wakes up the next morning, he feels the coolness of the air and the warmth of Keith’s bare chest under his cheek. He takes in the shafts of light that burst through the gaps in the windows of Keith’s hut. Between them his arm is asleep and their hands are clasped together, dark fingers around pale digits. He’s still in his clothes from the night before and half-wonders if he’s still dreaming. Keith is still asleep and Lance is too selfish to move, worried that once Keith wakes up he’ll freak out and kick him out of his room.

Lance head throbs, the hangover from the night before also catching up with them. Pounding like a toothache in his brain, right between his eyes. Sluggishly he wonders if whatever mindmeld Allura did could have some permanent effect on him.

If someone told Lance during the beginning of their journey that not only would he befriend and miss Keith when he left for the Blades, but that he would have a big dumb crush on the guy, well Lance would’ve probably laughed in their face. Loud, obnoxious, side-splitting laughter. Then he probably would’ve gone to find Keith to tell him the ridiculousness and...holy shit he had feelings for this loser even back then didn’t he?  

“What a fucking disaster,” he mutters. 

His eyes travel to the unconscious face of Keith above him, tracing his features with his eyes. Keith’s hair is a mess, his nose whistles softly when he exhales and there’s a bit of drool gathering on the corner of his lips because he sleeps with his mouth open like a monster.

But he was still so _pretty_ , Lance wanted to scream. He wanted to throw Keith into his lion and drop him on the nearest space whale and order it to age him up another 40 years so he can come back as an old ass man with saggy balls and a receding hairline. Then he’d march to wherever Romelle was sleeping and wake her up with pots and pans every single morning as punishment for putting him through this gay crisis. He was doing just fine having his heart slowly broken by Allura, thank you very much, and now he’s in a love triangle and it’s all in his damn mind. 

There’s a groan and Lance looks up to see Keith slowly and reluctantly wake up. He blinks, closes his eyes, and blinks again. Streaks of sunlight penetrate the window, casting a blinding ray on his face, making his irises look even more purple. He looks at Lance on his chest and doesn’t immediately throw him off the bed, which is a good sign.  

“It’s morning?” Keith grumbles sleepily. 

“It’s morning.”

Silence washes over them like a wave. Keith rubs his knuckles into his eyes. 

“How long have you been up?”

“Only a few minutes.”

“And you didn’t bolt?” Keith is joking, at least Lance thinks he's joking.

“Too hungover,” he lifts their hands. “Also was kinda trapped.”

“Right,” Keith says, but makes no effort to detangle their hands. Lance adjusts himself, his cheek sticking to Keith’s chest slightly as he moves to face him on the pillow. “Last night you ended up kind of a mess. Do you remember?”

When he doesn't reply, Keith goes on to tell him how after he made it to the hill, Lance was too drunk and exhausted to make it back to his hotel room, and demanded that Keith carry him. After watching him drunkenly fumble looking for his keycard, Keith gave up and brought him into his room.

 “You were the one who suggested we share the bed,” Keith explains, his tone accustory. “You were babbling about being emotionally spent and how my ‘grizzled’ physique meant mandatory bed sharing or something.” 

“Sounds like me.”

“Yeah well, anyway, you then went to steal all the blankets, snore and lay your oven-like body on top of me all night,” Keith’s face was flushed and Lance took it as his usual frustration over having to deal with him when he was on his peak-bullshit.  

“Yeah, well you drool in your sleep cause you're a mouth breather and your nose does a weird whistle thing. It’s not cute, it means you have a nose full of snot.”

“Shut up, no it doesn’t.”

“Yes it does, you got weird garla boogers,” Lance goes to flick his nose, but Keith grabs his wrists with his free hand. After the briefest of struggles, they’re holding both of each other’s hands, fingers intertwined. “This is pretty gay, man.”

“We already established that we’re both kinda gay.” 

“I can’t believe we spent so much time together yesterday and now we’re in your bed, holding hands,” Lance sighed. “If my poor catholic mother saw us now, she’d be scandalized.” 

“‘Cause we’re guys?” Keith blinks.

“No, ‘cause we’re sharing a bed and not married,” Lance is leaning up to Keith now. His heart is bleeding in the water and he’s testing for sharks.

“Marrying you would be a nightmare,” Keith counters, but there’s no bite to it. “You’d probably be a bridezilla.”

“But I cook great eggs.” Lance grins and Keith laughs

“Let’s hope Allura likes eggs then,” he says and his grip on Lance’s hands loosens, pulling away and sending thorns into his heart.

“Ha yeah…” his discomfort must be noticeable because Keith cringes and Lance waves his hand to keep him from apologizing. “It’s fine, I know you were joking. It’s really okay, man.”

“Does Allura know...about your plans?” Keith asks, voice low even though it’s just the two of them. “For when we reach Earth?”

Lance knows he can lie, throw Keith off his scent under the guise of struggling with his own future on the team and homesickness, but he won’t. Lying has never been Lance’s style when it came to things like this. He has too big of a mouth anyway. 

“Only you know…” he admits and Keith freezes, searching Lance’s face for something he can’t read. Another pause grows between them, making Lance uncomfortable and fidgety. He doesn’t know what to do or say. They’re in uncharted territory.

The script flips when Keith repositions himself over Lance, his knee between Lance’s legs as he climbs over him. The bed creaks as he lifts himself on his elbows, both arms between Lance’s head as he leans down.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Keith says, stating the obvious because that’s what he does.

“Please.” The word spills out of Lance like water.

When Keith’s lips slip against his, it’s like the missing puzzle piece to this whole conversation, this whole last day, their whole relationship was suddenly slotted into place. An overwhelming fondness washes over Lance, reminding him again how foolish he was to try to deny his feelings. This wasn’t new, that was in motion forever. It was like leaving your house and realizing ivy has been growing up the side. It’s been there for months, whether you noticed it or not.  

The kiss is chaste and quick and when Keith pulls back, he’s looking at Lance like nobody has ever looked at him before. It’s beautiful and devastating and Lance feels like he’s drowning. He might burst into tears, but his competitive streak keeps him from crying in front of Keith out of pure spite.

“I wanted you to know...while you’re figuring stuff out...” Keith breathes against his lips. “Because you should know.”

“I appreciate you...letting me know.” Lance nods and before he can say anything else there’s a loud pop and Keith swears into his mouth as his fucking wolf descends onto the bed from her intergalactical dimension, barking excitedly. 

“Quiznack!” Lance groans and sits up as Keith rolls over as she clampers over him to tackle Lance, covering his face with licks. “Ugh, good morning, Blue!” 

“She’s trying to reclaim her spot on the bed,” Keith grabs her with both arms, pulling the wolf off Lance so he can sit up. Wanting to play, Blue nips at his nose and hair. “She sleeps next to me every night, so she’s probably feeling a little dejected right now.” 

Lance’s lips tingle from where Keith just kissed him and swallowing hard, feeling his face warm as he looks at Keith happily ruffling Blue’s mane, shirtless and smiling. This moment, with early morning kisses and Blue nestled between them in a bed, this domesticity bliss seems tangible. For the first time since he became a paladin, Lance is able to see a future for himself. It’s next to Keith, and it scares the living shit out of him. 

“Hey,” Keith says and Lance turns to see him holding up his orange cellphone to see a message from Shiro in the group chat. “Shiro wants us to start getting ready to repack up the lions.”

“Right, yeah,” Lance nods and turns as his feet dangle above the off-white polyester carpet. Instantly Blue is laying on his spot, enjoying the warmth, tail wagging. He feels his pockets and finds his keycard far easier than his drunken counterpart did. He slips on his sandals and turns to look back at Keith, still in bed, a hand in Blue’s fur. “I’ll see you out there then, yeah?”

“Yeah, you will,” Keith says and both of them try to smile and neither of theirs reaches their eyes.

“Cool, I’ll see you then.”

“See you.” 

Lance leaves, shutting the door behind him. He’s lucky that nobody else is out yet as he takes the few steps to his own hut, swiping the keycard, the bolts click and unlock and he enters. Once closed, he presses himself to the other side of the door, his body heavy as he slides down to the floor. His phone vibrates in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see that he has two new messages in the groupchat asides from Shiro’s, one from Allura and another from Keith.

Underneath Shiro’s order for everyone to get up to prepare the lions, Allura has sent a selfie of her and Romelle, clad in pajamas and hair tangled and in their eyes. Both girls are smiling widely. 

 **Allura** : Altean bedhead is, how you humans say, “on point”

 **Hunk:** LOL! I would share a picture too but I’m too comfortable.

 **Hunk** : These Balneumian sheets are so coozyyyy

 **Matt** : Shiro, I don’t think anyone is gonna be getting up any time soon

 **Pidge** : We live here now.

 **Coran** : You all have about 20 doboshes before Shiro and I start breaking into rooms with buckets of cold water

 **Allura** : You wouldn’t dare, Coran!

 **Coran:** Make that 19 doboshes, Princess :-)

 **Hunk:** EEEP!

 **Shiro** : Has anyone heard from Keith? He hasn’t answered my texts and we need Black set up first.

 **Keith** : Ya I’m up. 

Keith then sent a picture of Blue, laying on her back in Keith’s bed, on the same spot Lance was in the night before. 

 **Keith** : Had a blanket stealer all night.

 **Hunk** : AWWWWWWW!!

Lance closes the chat, tossing his phone on the bed and leaning his head back against the door.

“....shit.” 

* * *

Coran’s water threats are merely threats, thankfully, and everyone is soon out of their huts and are packing up their lions with fresh supplies and renewed energy. Lance looks around, seeing Pidge and Matt loading Green, Krolia and Coran inspecting inventory and Shiro doing some last second systems checks. There’s no sign of Keith anywhere and Lance can’t help but feel a little relieved. Behind him, Allura is chatting with Makkah and Tyke, who are there to send them off. It’s still early and Tak is sleepily leaning against Tyke’s leg, pouting as the Paladins pack.

“Thank you again for your hospitality,” Allura says, shaking Makkah’s hand. “We look forward to our new alliance with Balneum. Please let us know if you need anything.”

“Of course, Princess! I can say the same for you folks,” Makkah grins. “We’re a very popular spot for honeymoons, and we’ll be sure to give you the friends and family discount.” 

“Makkah!” Tyke scolds and Makkah’s laughs loudly.  

“I don’t believe any of us are there yet in our relationships, Chief Makkah,” Allura sighs, goodnaturedly. “But if and when, you’ll be on the shortlists.” 

Lance turns and grabs Hunk, pointing Tak who is leaning against his father’s leg, looking miserable.

“Hey, what’s a matter, bud?” Hunk asks as he and Lance make their way over, hunching down next to Tyke so they’re eye-level with Tak. “You look like you just ate an entire bowl of sour juniberries.”

“You’re all leaving,” the boy says softly, his ears drooping on the top of his head. “What if the Garla come? Voltron won’t be here to help us…” 

“Hmmm, that is a good point,” Lance says, tapping his chin with his forefinger exaggeratedly. “We’ll definitely need some ears on the ground here to help. Do you have anyone like that in mind, Hunk?” 

“Oh yeah, definitely,” he smiles, turning to Takk and pulling out a small, yellow badge with his armor symbol on it. Takk’s eyes get as wide of saucers. “The Voltron Coalition is only as good as everyone involved. We need brave soldiers on every planet to help keep everyone safe when we’re not here. Do you think you can do that, Takk?” 

The boy’s head nods so quickly Lance is worried that he’s gonna hit Tyke’s leg. Hunk laughs, pinning the badge to the corner of the boy’s shirt and letting out a low whistle.

“Lookin’ sharp there, buddy!” Lance nods and is suddenly pushed back by the force of Takk hugging him, tiny arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

“Thank you,” the tiny voice says and Lance smiles and hugs back.  

“No problem, Takk.” 

Takk then turns and hugs Hunk just as tightly and Lance lifts up to his feet. Next to him, Tyke shakes his hand in thanks. Lance is about to go help Krolia get Kaltenecker into Red when he feels a pull on his shoulder, turning he sees it’s Allura. 

“That was incredibly sweet of you, Lance.” she smiles, looking back at Takk who is showing his badge to Makkah and Tyke. “He’ll remember that for the rest of his life.”

“Well, I know coalition building is important and I gotta up my brand with our biggest fans somehow,” he winks at Allura who rolls her eyes playfully.

“Yes, I’m sure all the Red Paladin merchandise will be flying off the shelves of the space malls,” she says, turning back to him with her own wink. “You are the heart of our team, afterall.”

Lance feels his face warm as Allura walks away, her compliment nestling in his chest and he can hear his own heartbeat in his ears. He rests a hand on his chest, he may never get used to the effect she has on him.

“Hello, Lance,” he hears and the _A_ gives away who it is. He groans, turning around to see Romelle standing, looking bright eyed and freshfaced.  

“Hello, Romelle,” he says, hoping his lack of enthusiasm in his voice conveys just how little he wants to interact with her.

“Did you enjoy your chat with Keith last night?” she asks and Lance shushes her, covering her mouth with his hand, looking around in case anyone heard her.

“Keep it down will you?” he hisses, removing his hand from her mouth. “I dunno how you guys roll on Aleta, but I’m not really into everyone knowing everything in my personal life.”

“But everyone already knows,” she pushes, pointing to his heart. “As I explained last night-”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I know, my heart beats like a jumbotron at a Barcelona match. My crush on Allura is common knowledge. Everyone knows about it. I’m the talk of the town. I get it." 

“Well, yes but-” Romelle attempts, but Lance cuts her off.

“Nooope, not talking about it,” He crosses his arms in front of him in an X-formation. “You already dumped my own feelings on me last night and I do not need a refresher, thank you very much.”

“Fine,” Romelle rolls her eyes dramatically. “I cannot believe how stubborn you humans are.”

“I would say it’s one of our stronger qualities,” he says and is interrupted by Keith walking past them, carrying a large crate as Blue circles between his legs. He stops when he sees Lance, both of them staring at each other, neither speaking.

Blue pads over to Lance, sniffing his hands, looking up at him with curiouslity, her yellow eyes glowing.

“She likes you it seems,” Romelle says softly, motioning to the wolf.  

“She’s a decent judge of character,” Keith replies and Lance knows it’s more to him than Romelle. Keith whistles through his teeth and instantly Blue is back on his heels, following him as he walks over to the Black Lion. Lance can’t help but watch him go.

Romelle sighs loudly, placing a hand on his back, “Although your heart is beating for two right now, Paladin, my advice to you is to determine which you want to beat with forever.”

Lance nods, making his way to his lion to prepare for the rest of the journey ahead.

**Author's Note:**

> Come and yell about these dumb boys with me on Tumblr: astrolatte. My asks are opened!
> 
> Also, comments are nice, too! I always try to reply to you all :D


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